Two Opposites, A Life Changing Love and 17 Years Later…

I met Tim when I was 23 and he was 22.  I was full of confidence, the life of any party and getting ready to conquer the world. I was living in Pittsburgh, PA. He was finishing up college, not really that into parties and getting ready to move in with his parents.  He was living in Metro Detroit, MI.  Neither one of us was looking to fall in love, that’s for sure.  But we did fall in love -head over heals, knock the wind out of you, life changing, stay together forever and ever kind of love.

In just a few months, I quit my job and moved to Michigan.  He graduated from college and moved in with his parents.  Then we got engaged and moved in together, then married and bought a house and a puppy.  Then we had a baby and then another one and another one and another one. In just a few years, we went from single and young to married homeowners with a large family.

 

There was a lot of change all the time, and still is.  But a few things have never changed.  I am still the life of a party and sometimes believe I’m going to conquer the world (or at least change it for the better in my corner of it) and Tim still likes to skip the party, any party.  Another thing that hasn’t changed is that we are still in love.  Actually we are more in love.

 

The success to our love story (so far) has always consisted of a few key things–humor, respect and honoring our differences.  I’m loud, he’s quiet. I’m emotional, he’s not. I like to dance all the time, he doesn’t dance ever. I’m a roller coaster of feelings, he’s stable and steady and calm. I like to get lost in a crowd, he likes to avoid them.  

 

Tim steadies me and shows me unconditional love.  He pulls me out of my darkness when the world seems too intense for my oversensitive soul.  He is my anchor, my rock, my friend and the love of my life.  He says that I bring pizzaz to his life and that I’m his best friend.  

 

We have been through a lot together.  We’ve made hard decisions together, we have made mistakes together. We have held each other’s hands through uncertain financial times, lost a home, lost jobs, been disappointed by life and gutted with grief after the deaths of family and friends.  We have celebrated milestones, toasted each other’s promotions and new degrees and decisions to leave jobs we hated, honored each other’s victories and been over the moon with joy about all the good things that have happened.  We’ve cared for babies and toddlers and now our babies are preteens and teenagers.

 

It’s all going/gone so fast. There is change all the time, but our love story is still going strong. Some times when Tim and I are together, it feels like that first night when we were surprised by that head over heels, knock the wind out of you, stay together forever and ever kind of love.